Mahindra will give its dealerships a big revamp, and will call the revamped range of dealerships as the ‘World of SUVs’. These dealerships will have a Prime zone, which will sell only the premium vehicles from Mahindra’s range. Mahindra plans to do a Maruti NEXA with the new range of dealerships but will not have separate premium dealerships.

Instead, the Prime section will be within Mahindra’s existing line-up of revamped dealerships. The Indian utility vehicle maker’s latest cars – the Marazzo MPV and the XUV700 (Ssangyong Rexton G4) luxury SUV – are expected to be among the first vehicles to be sold from the Prime zone.

Mahindra’s Chief of Sales and Marketing – Auto, Veejay Nakra said,

The channel strategy revamp is not just for the new vehicles that Mahindra is launching, its for the entire dealership, keeping in mind that Mahindra is an SUV manufacturer, We want customer to experience walking into an SUV manufacturer dealership and not just into a car dealership. The dealership revamping will be in line with Mahindra’s DNA and the ‘Live Young Live Free’ theme. We are going to change the way we display our SUVs, the flooring on which the vehicles are displayed will be changed, the background will be more realistic giving it a feel of an off-roader or a 4X4 vehicle. A product like the Mahindra Rexton G4 will be a high and premium product, and it requires not just the look and feel but also the technology and people who sell to be in line with it.

In other words, Mahindra seems to be stepping up the look and feel of its dealerships apart from giving customers a more premium experience while buying high-end cars from the brand. The upcoming Mahindra XUV700 is expected to start from nearly Rs. 30 lakhs, on-road, putting it at par with the likes of the Toyota Fortuner and the Ford Endeavour. The Mahindra Marazzo MPV however, is expected to sit in between the Maruti Ertiga and Toyota Innova Crysta in terms of price and positioning. Yet, the MPV is likely to have enough high-end features for it to be positioned as a premium people mover, just like the Toyota Innova Crysta.